The very last Space Shuttle launch is scheduled for this weekend. To the men and women responsible for watching every detail what seems like a quick deal is more like an eternity. NASA Navigation and Flights Control Engineer George W. Hatcher describes those final moments. — Ed.

In 1954, the Czech cartoonist Zdeněk Miler was tasked with creating educational films about the merits of Communist industry. Miler subverted the project to create Krtek (The Mole), and showed children behind the Iron Curtain the wonders of American cars, rockets, and skyscrapers. Not in vain: this Friday, Miler’s…